Goal Zero Yeti 150 gives you several days of emergency gadget power (video)

LAS VEGAS -- Recent natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy have made it clear how important it can be to have backup power as part of your emergency preparedness plan. Goal Zero wants to have you covered with its upcoming Yeti 150 power pack.

For $400, it will store 150 watt-hours of juice, enough to charge your laptop several times or run your tablet for a week. You charge it from a wall
outlet, but for $200 more, the company’s 15-watt solar panel will fill it up in about 15 hours of bright sunlight.

Unlike the far more powerful Yeti 1250, which can run large appliances but is large and heavy enough to require wheels, the Yeti 150 is small enough to be
useful for more than emergencies. It’s heavy (hey, lead-acid batteries aren’t exactly lightweight), but it’s compact enough to pack away with your camping
gear or to take with you on that weekend trip to a rustic cabin in the woods.

With a $400 power pack and a $200 solar panel—and a little luck avoiding cloudy weather—you might just be able to live the dream of never turning off your iPad ever again.

Jason Cross Executive Editor

Jason has written professionally about technology and video games for almost 20 years. His goal in life is to figure out how complicated technology works and explain it in a way anyone can understand.More by Jason Cross